About 45 species: mainly in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and Central and South America; three species in China.

Lian & Wang (Acta Phytotax. Sin. 18: 514-520. 1980; Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 64(2): 116-151. 1989) argued that the differences between Eritrichium and Hackelia are insufficient to keep
them as separate genera. However, the gynobase in Eritrichium is cushion-shaped, to 1 mm high, while in Hackelia it is distinctly conical and 2-3 mm high. It is likely that other species
from China listed under Eritrichium will need to be transferred to Hackelia in the future.